


Bright Eyes and Goodbyes

by thewriter



Category: Demi Lovato (Musician)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 20:29:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12240102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewriter/pseuds/thewriter
Summary: A short story inspired by Demi's 2012\2013 trip to Kenya. As she prepares to leave.





	Bright Eyes and Goodbyes

It was Demi's last day working in the Kenyan village where she had been volunteering for the past few days. Not only had she been working on building a school for the young children their, but she had also spent time with the families who lived there.

Aside from the safaris she had gone on with the rest of her friends who had come with her Demi had enjoyed herself. It wasn't just about the work to her it was about the people and what she was doing to benefit their lives. Her favorite thing to do was bring small items to the families and the villages and it was there she met the children that tugged at her heart the worst way possible.

The little boy's name was Iain. He had the disproportionate, malnourished features of many of the children in the village and his thin frame made him look much younger than he was, no more than a few years old. The little boy was wearing a sweatshirt that seem to be a few sizes too big, but then everything was still awake on these children aside from their school uniforms, slacks and crisp white shirts.

They were leaving the village for the last time, being profusely thanked by the people with gentle hands and grateful eyes. Demi was about to climb into the Jeep with the rest of her team when she saw running after her, and she turned back and smiled and waved.

"Bye Demi, bye Demi"

Her heart tugged and she put her hand on the back of the front seat of the Jeep as she spoke to the driver.

"Can you stop for a minute… I'll be right back."

The driver side and gave her a look but reluctantly nodded and Demi slid out of the car hurrying back the way she had come before he could change his mind.  
Iain hurled into her body like the force of a torpedo his little arms wrapping around her knees. Chuckling, she reached to pick him up.

His little fingers wrapped into the neck of the sweatshirt she was wearing his fingers grasping at the strings that tightened the hood in a way that said he wouldn't let go.

"I have to go." Demi whispered, because right now it was all she could say even though in her heart she wanted to do so much more. She pressed her forehead against his and began to sing softly, a song She had written when she was 15 on the set of Camp Rock, a song she hadn't sung in years that it seemed to fit the situation. Finally, reluctantly she placed Iain back on his feet and he looked up at her with those big dark eyes of his but he didn't cry.

Demi couldn't look back when she was back in the Jeep knowing Iain would try to run after her again. She knew by this time tomorrow she would be back in LA back to her normal life when once again the reality of these small African villages would seem like a distant memory. It was situations like this people told you not to get attached but you did anyway, and it was an experience like this that had worked its way into her heart- and like the way Iain had been clutching her sweatshirt-will refuse to let go.


End file.
